We hope that the traditional principle of promotion according to qualifications, experience, merit, without regard to race will be maintained”.
The British Ministers had advised that “It would be disastrous to have a Civil Service under the control of the Executive, and for appointments to change according to the turn of the political wheel would lead to instability. In some countries such a system had proved nearly fatal”.
So it was that during the crisis years of 1966 – 1970 of two military coups and the Civil War, Nigeria had a Federal Civil Service which had authority. Its morale was high. It was confident, professional, competent, non-partisan, disciplined, non-corrupt and much respected. It was dedicated to the service of the people generally. The Civil Service was able to :
•Maintain day-to-day orderly administration of the country despite the escalating confrontation and defiance of the Federal Military Government by the Eastern Region Military Government;
•Organize the campaign to rally the rest of the country to support the Federal Military Government in its desire to maintain one united country;
•Insist on and eventually persuade the Military Authorities to invite well-known political leaders of the country into the Government to give credibility to the Government, ensure the people’s support and assure the external world that the Federal Military Government was not a military tyranny. Thus Chief Awolowo, Chief Enahoro, Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief J. S. Tarka, Mr. Wenike Briggs, Mr Okoi Arikpo and others were brought into the Government;
•Plan and co-ordinate the required diplomatic effort to maintain the support of the UN, OAU and of nearly all sovereign countries for the Federal Government;
•Organize the resources and logistics to enable the Federal Army grow from under 10,000 men to over 200,000 men and to prosecute the War;
•Develop the 3Rs Programme (Rehabilitation, Reconciliation and Reconstruction) to address the immediate Post Civil War situation; and
•Develop and launch the 1970 – 74 Plan.
There is an attempt at the beginning of the 1970 – 74 Plan to suggest the adoption of some national objectives or ideology. Five principal national objectives are indicated :
(i)A united, strong and self-reliant nation;
(ii)A great and dynamic economy;
(iii)A just and egalitarian society;
(iv)A land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens; and
(v)A free and democratic society.
One must also give due credit to the competence and resourcefulness of the Regions’ Civil Services, particularly the Eastern Region Civil Service.
In 1970, Chief S. O. Adebo, who was the Chairman of the Salaries and Wages Review Commission stated in his Report : “We have earlier referred to the arduous responsibilities which the Civil Service shoulders. We have suggested that it is on its creditable performance as a flexible modern machinery for the management of complex programmes that the survival, stability, progress and development of Nigerian society ultimately depend. This thesis has been amply borne out by our national experience over the last decade and does not require further elucidation”. Chief J. O. Udoji, The Chairman of the Public Service Review Commission also said : “It is fitting here to state our appreciation of the achievements made by Nigeria’s public servants, especially over the last 14 years. ………”.
The 1975 Overthrow of the Gowon Administration
The 1975 coup which overthrew The Gowon Administration may have been planned over a considerable period but again the planners did not develop beforehand a long-term plan for economic development and growth, or for continuing the task of developing and strengthening the Nigerian nation by pursuing concrete uniting and integrating programmes. However, the Murtala Mohammed / Obasanjo Administration which succeeded Gowon implemented three measures which have impacted negatively on governance and the development and cohesion of a Nigerian nation :
1. Whereas, the creation of 12 states in May 1967 on the eve of the declaration of Biafran Secession was meant firstly, to address the old demand of the Middle Belt Movement in the North and the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers State Movement in the East to complement the creation of the Mid-West Region in 1963, and secondly, as a strategic imperative to contain Biafran Secession Attempt, the 1975 division of the country into 19 states pandered to the desire of some influential sectors for dividing and sharing the national cake, not for baking it. The rapid expansion of oil production and with it the OPEC – led dramatic increases in oil revenues accruing to oil producers made it possible to indulge in this pre-occupation with sharing oil revenues while paying less attention to genuine development and growth of the economy. The formula for the allocation of federally collected revenues (more than 85% of it from oil and gas taxes) – 50% allocated in equal proportion to each state and 50% on the basis of population encourages the demands for further creation of more states.
2.The traumatic massive purge of about 10,000 officials over a period of two months, without due process, involving officials from the rank of Permanent Secretary to the class of messengers being retired or dismissed, including some obvious leaders and role models, some without any terminal benefits or pensions destroyed the professional, non-partisan, fearless, prestigious, merit-driven Civil Service and Public Service inherited from the British Colonial Administration. In the process, the nation lost a great deal of institutional memory and valuable international connections.
The more senior ones, who inspired by the ideals of the Pre-Independence movement and the patriotic commitments of the leaders of the First Republic, were still energetic in suggesting and developing policies, programmes and projects and who also imbued as they were with the old core values would be able to provide some checks and balances were swept away. The suffering, including the pre-mature death of scores of officials affected by the purge fuelled the resort to “make hay while the sun shines” an obvious euphemism for corruption which now threatens the future of the country.
3.The new Administration abandoned the implementation of the 1975 – 80 Plan with its great promise of creating the basis for economic diversification and industrialization. Some very significant new projects were embarked upon while some properly costed Plan projects were aborted or not started. More destructively the discipline of planning was abandoned.
This set the stage for the economic stagnation and the degradation of infrastructure, educational, health and other sectors over the next two and a half decades despite the fairly high level of oil revenues compared with the Pre- Civil War situation. The statistical data clearly illustrate this. Indeed the growth rate in the decade up to 1999 averaged only 2% per annum, while the population was growing at 3% per annum.
The woes of the Civil Service were compounded by the promulgation of Decree No. 43 of 1988 which politicized the Civil Service. Under it the ministers, transient as they often were, could hire and fire civil servants; the functions of the Independent Public Service Commission were transferred to the ministries; the Minister replaced the Permanent Secretary, now re-styled Director-General, as the Accounting Officer of the Ministry. Although repealed in 1995 the great damage done to the Public Service under the decree still afflicts the Service.
Vision 20 : 2020 And The Jonathan Transformation Agenda
After the death of Gen. Abacha in 1998, democratic rule was hastily restored with the election and installation of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President in May 1999. Towards the end of his second term Goldman Sachs published a Report which listed Nigeria amongst 10 other countries, and which suggested that if Nigeria pursued all the right policies and achieved international competitiveness she could become one of the 20 largest economies in the World by 2025. The other countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan and Turkey. We should note that even in this list we are No. 7. In adopting the target of the Report, the Nigerian Authorities brought the date nearer by 5 years to 2020!
